Companies that adopt industrial artificial intelligence see productivity losses before longer-term gains, according to new research.
Differences in AI adoption in Europe and the US: Explanations and implications for productivity growth
The economic impact of generative AI will depend on the speed and breadth of adoption by workers and firms. Drawing on a survey of workers in the US and six European countries and a firm survey covering 32 European countries, this column explores the speed of AI adoption across countries and whether an ‘AI gap’ will exacerbate existing productivity differences between the US and Europe. There are large differences in AI adoption across countries, much of which are accounted for by management practices. Higher AI adoption rates are associated with faster productivity growth but not with changes in employment.
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Mind the Gap: AI Adoption in Europe and the U.S.
This paper combines international evidence from worker and firm surveys conducted in 2025 and 2026 to document large gaps in AI adoption, both between the US and Europe and across European countries. Cross-country differences in worker demographics and firm composition account for an important share of these gaps. AI adoption, within and across countries, is also closely linked to firm personnel management practices and whether firms actively encourage AI use by workers. Micro-level evidence suggests that AI generates meaningful time savings for many workers. At the macro level, in recent years industries with higher AI adoption rates have experienced faster productivity growth. While we do not establish causality, this relationship is statistically significant and similar in magnitude in Europe and the US. We do not find clear evidence that industry-level AI adoption is associated with employment changes. We discuss limitations of existing data and outline priorities for future data collection to better assess the productivity and labor market effects of AI.
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A Bick, A Blandin, D Deming, N Fuchs-Schündeln, & J Jessen find large differences in AI adoption across countries, much of which are accounted for by management practices. Higher adoption rates are associated w/ + productivity growth but not w/ employment changes. cepr.org/voxeu/columns/differences-ai-… #EconSky
